


Adrift, Afraid, and Hopefully Not Alone

by RiverDelta



Series: Adrift, Afraid, and Hopefully Not Alone [1]
Category: Red vs. Blue, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Lapidot is The Main Ship, Multi, No Lapidemption AU, No Peredemption AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-11-12 15:38:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11164896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiverDelta/pseuds/RiverDelta
Summary: Both of them are expected to be wonder weapons. Both of them are from a strange, advanced alien culture. Both of them are expected to fight unquestioningly for a cause that's as new to them as anything else. Both of them are the only two Gems on a spaceship full of humans. Both of them have nowhere else to go. The other soldiers are getting restless. Who knows how long this is going to last?Peridot needs stability, Lapis needs something to care about.Lapis and Peridot need each other, and, by the stars, they need to survive.





	1. Chapter 1

**Peridot:**

 

"Hello." It said, turning to me. I wasn't entirely sure what it meant. I had reformed in a small room with utilitarian furniture all in grays and blacks. A table, with a reading light and scattered stacks of very small paper; a chair, to go with the table, a second chair, which the human in front of me happened to be sitting in, and my olfactory senses smelled a faint, artificial, chemical smell I didn't entirely recognize. The person in front of me looked sort of like a Gem, but, of course, it certainly wasn't. It had brownish skin and a bit of a round face, and some sort of fur on its head it had cropped tightly to its scalp. On its body it wore a black and grey jumpsuit, not too dissimilar from my own. "Hello?" I asked in return.

It spoke with a monotone. "Hello, alien." It said. "May I ask about your name or designation?" I listened and nodded, responding. "I'm Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG, and I'm not an alien. I'm a Gem. You're the alien here. An actual human being. I thought those didn't exist." It nodded, making an 'mmhmm' noise, before speaking. "Yes, yes, well, I'm given to understand that after the other members of your species on the craft we boarded...were dealt with, you surrendered and offered up your skills as a technician, and your...innate qualities as a member of the same species as Agent Oregon?"

I didn't feel like I should ask why they didn't know what Gems were if they already had one working under some...insane name like that. What in the name of the stars was an "Oregon" anyway? Anyway, I addressed the more important question here. "...You have a Gem working for you?" It shook its head. "Well, we have a...Gem, as you say that the species is called, Oregon never specified and she is somewhat new, but no. Oregon works for the Director of Project Freelancer, the human organization of which you are currently a captive."

"...Fine. Who are you, then, if you aren't Oregon or the Director?" I muttered, cursing my high-pitched and largely nonthreatening voice. If I were a Jasper, this would be a very different story. The fact that they took away my limb enhancers, evidently, as, well, I was really, really short kind of made that even worse. It spoke as though its words were the most obvious truth in the world. "My name is Aiden Price, but on this ship, I'm just known as the Counselor, Peridot. Can I just call you Peridot?" It asked. I nodded a bit. "Do you see another Peridot around here?"

"I don't." It conceded. "Now then, Peridot, I'm sure you'd prefer to speak to another of your own species." It said. I then said "Well, I'm surprised that humans are able to speak with this many complex words and build spaceships. The rumors mostly described you as being incredibly primitive." The Counselor shrugged and stood up. "I'm sure you'll find that humanity is a very impressive species, Peridot. Should I send for Oregon?" Its words were somewhat light, even through the monotone, as if I hadn't insulted its entire species or anything. "Yeah."

* * *

 

**Lapis:**

 

"God fucking dammit, Oregon, I swear to god, bringing a messenger bag full of water bottles for sparring is bullshit cheating and you know it!" I sat on the observation deck of the training room, a shiny blue and white nexus where those of us who were smart relaxed (York with his smuggled beer, North Dakota leaning on the window and looking down) and looked down at people training. Those of us who were stupid (In this case, South Dakota), came up here to, as the humans put it, _bitch and moan_ about losing. York sat there in one of the metal chairs drinking the weird substance. He had a very chiseled body, I'd say, a bit like a Quartz. Broad shoulders and all, messy brown hair, that sort of thing. All of us were, of course, in armor. Mine was "MJOLNIR-Freelancer Modified/Surplus", whatever that means, deep blue with dark green accents, while York's was tan, and the Dakotas had green accents with purple, though South's was neon green and pink, while North's was a darker green and purple.

North, meanwhile, had a similar build, though he was a bit taller, had yellowish hair instead of York's brown hair, and instead of York's perpetual swagger, he simply had the confidence of both a responsible leader and a trained killer. He was everyone's friend, even if not everyone wanted his friendship. Meanwhile, his "twin sister", a concept I'm still trying to wrap my head around, was South Dakota, a loud, insulting, spiteful _bitch_ with hair that was white until it ended in pink tips, and it got almost everywhere. That was the woman who had her finger pointed at me. "Stop cheating!"

I shrugged. I've never really been one for arguing with people, or talking in general, really. North tried to defuse the situation as best as he could. "Come on, South, she's a hydrokinetic. It's basically what she's here for, right? She probably fought that way all the time...where she's from. Wherever the hell that is." I didn't bother to correct them that the fact that my powers could have offensive applications seemed to slip the minds of the Diamonds. Apparently Lapis Lazulis were for terraforming and that was that. South exhaled loudly through her teeth. "Dammit, Oregon, since when are you allowed to bring anything onto the training floor other than what you'd use in battle? It's fucking bullshit!"

"Well, I'd bring a bag of water bottles into battle." I said, with a somewhat flat affect. It wasn't an insult, it was just true. South extended her middle finger at me, and I was just kind of confused, then I sighed and she spoke again. "Stupid bullshit aliens. Why are we allowing this goddamn alien bitch to fight with us? What about the Covenant? We can't trust them." North gently put his hand on her shoulder. "South...She's on our side. We've never seen anything like her on the side of the Covenant, there's nothing like her in the records we have, and if she was going to turn on us, she'd have done it. Take a breather, OK?"

She extended her middle finger at me again, then did the same to her brother, and left the area. York sighed. "Holy shit." He said. "It's like...She throws a fit every time she loses at this point." North shrugged. "Well, she's been incredibly stressed out ever since she joined the Project. She's just...on edge." He said. York shook his head and downed some more of the beer. "Dude, I think she's just a bitch. No need to overanalyze."

"I'm her brother. It's my job to overanalyze." At that, the cheery, artificial tones of FILSS, the ship's onboard computer spoke, filling the room. "Agent Oregon, you're wanted down at the brig, Cell 002. Please report to the brig at once, Counselor's orders." I spoke to nobody in particular, which, essentially, meant I spoke to FILSS. "I'll be right there." I started walking, and I overheard York whisper none-too-subtly to North that "Dude, if anyone's on edge, it's the alien. I don't know what the fuck happened to her, but she's cold."

Nonetheless, I left the observation deck of the training floor and walked through the sterile gray-and-black hallways of the ship, the UNSC _Mother of Invention,_ before eventually finding an elevator, entering it, awkwardly pressing the buttons to close the door and go down, since, well, elevator technology is sort of new to me, and I took the long walk down to, well, Cell 002. I twisted the metal handle, but it wouldn't budge. "FILSS, unlock Cell 002." I said, to nobody in particular, which kind of meant FILSS. "Of course, Agent Oregon."

With a loud click, the door opened, and me, my bag of water bottles, and the helmet under my arm entered the cell to find of all things another Gem. Specifically, a Peridot. She looked up at me, stunned for a second, then finally spoke. "By the stars. You're an Era 1 Lapis Lazuli...What are you doing on this dirtlump?" I closed the door behind me. "It's a long story. What am I doing here?"

"Well, the Counselor said that I'd be more comfortable talking to another Gem than to him."

"Oh, by the stars, he said that?" I asked, sighing. "Well...Welcome to the MoI, Peridot. I guess there's a lot you need to know."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the irregular updates, but I'm balancing this with schoolwork and a novel, and the novel's my main priority as writing goes at the moment.

**Peridot:**

I looked up at the taller Gem, the Era 1 Lapis Lazuli apparently called “Agent Oregon”, whatever an “Oregon” was, and I then started to ask questions, rapid-fire. “Okay...So...Um...Who are these people, what are they doing with such advanced technology, why didn’t Homeworld know about them, why are you, a Gem who, you know, matters, doing their bidding in their armor, with their stupid name, what does “Oregon” mean, and this is something I’ve especially been wondering, Lapis, why am I here? Wait, are there more Gems on this ship?”

She looked down at me, brushed her royal blue hair out of her face, and shrugged, taking her time to answer each question slowly. Possibly in depth, but I think that the more accurate way of putting it would simply be that she answered my questions kind of slowly. It was the kind of tone that I used to use when I served in naval engineering and I had a particularly obnoxious commanding officer. _Yes, ma’am, of course, ma’am, why don’t you go jump out of an airlock, ma’am..._

“Well, these people are humans in a, you know, general sense, but really they’re the Agents and staff and _shit_ of Project Freelancer, a human military research program. They have advanced technology because _fuck_ if I know, I never bothered to ask. My best guess as to whether Homeworld doesn’t know about them is that there was this obscure historical event that I had to look into. Five hundred years ago or something, some Gems managed to defend humanity from the Homeworld. The Crystal Gems. They won. I guess Homeworld just got sour about the loss and decided to keep everyone from knowing that Earth and everything on it ever existed. What am I doing following them in this armor? My choice was between Homeworld and the UNSC, and it was either meaningless terraforming for a dying empire or...not doing that.” She finished, a bit lamely. “So, it was obvious. I have no idea what Oregon means, I assume you’re here because the Director wants to try a second Gem Freelancer sometime in the future, or possibly just interrogate you, I really can’t say, and no, there aren’t any other Gems on this ship.”

“So, in summary, you know almost nothing about your job and are just kind of hoping it doesn’t all go utterly wrong?” I asked, tilting my head a bit. This Lapis Lazuli didn’t seem very smart, to say the least. She nodded. “Yep. Welcome to Project Freelancer, Peridot. Nobody knows anything.”

“That wouldn’t be like that if you’d stayed on Homeworld.” I said, a bit smugly. She responded with a very dull monotone. “Yes, yes, glory to the Diamonds, blah, blah. Peridot, here I just don’t know anything. Home, I’d be lied to all the time, and Earth? I...I don’t trust the Crystal Gems for my own reasons aside from them being rebels against the Diamond Authority.” Her voice became a bit quieter as she said that.

I didn’t particularly care. “Okay, so now I have as little of an idea of what’s going on as you do.” I wish I could have asked her if she was alright, because, frankly, she seemed very beaten down by life and I’m told that people in such a position often benefit from sympathy. But, then, I wasn’t really thinking of what would be the best thing to do to help this random Lapis Lazuli who had absolutely betrayed the Diamond Authority, which, while I wasn’t necessarily keen on due to the fact that the partial societal collapse over the last five hundred years owing to the resource crisis and the...unrest that came from that had soured general opinions on the Diamond Authority a bit, as compared to how they were, say, to use a completely arbitrary number...five hundred years ago...Grumbling was one thing, but defecting was another.

I had to admit, though, that as defectors to be faced with went, I preferred ones who weren’t trying to shatter me, and having those defectors be shapely Lapis Lazulis didn’t change that notion. “Why’d you just give in? I mean, I can’t fight, I’m...just a Peridot, but you? You’re a Lapis Lazuli, and these are organics. Couldn’t you do...I don’t know, something? I’m not a biologist, and even if I was, I don’t know if what we know about Sangheili biology applies to human biology. Why didn’t you fight back? Become a space pirate or something?”

“I’m not that kind of person.” She said, simply, before glaring through me. “Besides, I can’t exactly see myself as some kind of pirate. Look, here’s the thing, Peridot. You’re probably never going to see Homeworld again.” I stopped at that, trying to keep from utterly losing my composure, though I did notice that my left gravity connector was wildly vibrating up and down, as I happened to be sitting on some kind of strange, extremely soft respite rectangle, noting that the floor of my cell, being metal, was slightly cold and just a bit uncomfortable to the touch.

The respite rectangle in question was blue and grey, with a puffy much smaller respite rectangle oriented at a ninety-degree angle on one end of the respite rectangle...and Lapis spoke again, this time with a lot more gravitas. “Peridot, are you actually listening to me or are you just going to keep staring at your bed and vibrating your leg like that? You’re never going to see your planet again.” 

“Our planet.”

“I’ve given it up to adapt, you should probably do it too.”

 

**South Dakota:**

I’m sure that a whole fuckin’ bunch of you just saw the bullshit interaction I had with the alien and my brother, and you probably thought ‘Oh, wow, Agent South looks like a huge bitch, it’s a good thing that her brother’s there to keep her under control!’ I know that you fuckers thought that because literally everyone has thought that.

Even back when I was a little kid named Sylwia Lisiewicz. Even back when I was four goddamn years old. That’s probably why I am a huge bitch, honestly. He was always the head of every club, I was the one smoking pot outside the school yard. When he had a steady girlfriend I couldn’t hold down a girl for more than a week. When he was straight I was gay as shit. When he was polite and friendly, I was a huge bitch.  I signed up for the army to prove I could be worth a damn, he decided to sign up too to keep an eye on me. For my own good. Fuckin’ typical. You can see why my parents liked him more, but, then again, maybe I wouldn’t be so fucking worthless to everyone if I hadn’t ended up as the shit twin. Death spiral.

Anyway, brooding aside, my name’s Sylwia Lisiewicz -wait, no -Agent South Dakota  - wait, no - South, I’m number four out of the top six on the Freelancer Leaderboard, so North can suck a dick, and I’m currently sitting in one of the nicer rooms on the ship. If you stay on the Leaderboard, you get an A-Block room, go down to the top 15 and you get a B-Block room, 16-30 in C-Block, you get the idea. The further you go from A-Block, the shittier the rooms get.

Right now, though, I’m sitting in a decently comfy chair with metal legs in a very boxy room, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans (another privilege of the Alpha Team, that being the A-Block soldiers), and across from me, on my bed, is a short, very attractive girl with an undercut and the kind of glare that you could burn through concrete with.

The Mother of Invention’s only lesbian relationship, right here. Well, as far as I know.


	3. (Temporary) Interest Check

I'm considering coming back to this story, but I was wondering if anyone would find it interesting or not after all these months. So if you are interested in seeing it or any of my other stories resume (and if so, please mention what story you're interested in by name), please comment. Thank you!


End file.
